. -- the fiscal cliff negotiations on capitol hill. >> this week on "q&a," kevin phillips discusses his historical narrativnarrative. >> kevin phillips, at the end of your preference, you have a paragraph that says the year 1774-17 steny 5 had more than their fair share of unsung heroes. -- 1775 had more than their fair share of unsung heroes. what are you getting at? >> one of the things i like best about 1775, which was a much more spurned group of people, granted the founding fathers -- more inspiring group of people, granted, the founding fathers were not always -- seven out of the 10 counties, metropolitan washington, it is the country did is still great but a capital that is not. would have predicted that? >> if anyone would have guessed that there would be a country of 300 million people, they may wouldn't come up with a bit of cynicism. but they were dedicated people. >> you say, during the last four years, during the campaign of 2012, you stuck your nose at this. >> the first time i did something like that was back in the 1990's. i wrote a book about the english speaking civil